Title:  The Haunted Bookshop

Author:  Christopher Morley

Release Date:  October, 1994 [EBook #172] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 5, 2002] [Most recently updated:  December 30, 2003]

Edition:  11

Language:  English

Character set encoding:  ASCII

*** Start of the project gutenberg EBOOK, the haunted bookshop ***

Updates to this eBook were provided by Andrew Sly.

The haunted bookshop

By Christopher Morley

To the booksellers

Be pleased to know, most worthy, that this little book is dedicated to you in affection and respect.

The faults of the composition are plain to you all.  I begin merely in the hope of saying something further of the adventures of Roger Mifflin, whose exploits in “Parnassus on Wheels” some of you have been kind enough to applaud.  But then came Miss Titania Chapman, and my young advertising man fell in love with her, and the two of them rather ran away with the tale.

I think I should explain that the passage in Chapter VIII, dealing with the delightful talent of Mr. Sidney Drew, was written before the lamented death of that charming artist.  But as it was a sincere tribute, sincerely meant, I have seen no reason for removing it.

Chapters I, II, III, and VI appeared originally in The Bookman, and to the editor of that admirable magazine I owe thanks for his permission to reprint.

Now that Roger is to have ten Parnassuses on the road, I am emboldened to think that some of you may encounter them on their travels.  And if you do, I hope you will find that these new errants of the Parnassus on Wheels Corporation are living up to the ancient and honourable traditions of our noble profession.

         &nb
sp;                         ChristopherMorley. 
     Philadelphia,
     April 28, 1919

The Haunted Bookshop

Chapter I The Haunted Bookshop

If you are ever in Brooklyn, that borough of superb sunsets and magnificent vistas of husband-propelled baby-carriages, it is to be hoped you may chance upon a quiet by-street where there is a very remarkable bookshop.

This bookshop, which does business under the unusual name “Parnassus at Home,” is housed in one of the comfortable old brown-stone dwellings which have been the joy of several generations of plumbers and cockroaches.  The owner of the business has been at pains to remodel the house to make it a more suitable shrine for his trade, which deals entirely in second-hand volumes.  There is no second-hand bookshop in the world more worthy of respect.